Test aircraft come under scrutiny after FSVT inspection discovers overloading

Published: 10/13/1999

The Russian Air Transport Service (FSVT) has revealed that an Il-76 belonging to aircraft manufacturer VASO not only exceeded its loading limits by 1.5 times, but that its pilot was unaware of the regulations governing the lashing and securing procedures for cargo on the aircraft. The General Director of VASO has refused to comment on the incident, which resulted from an emergency landing by the VASO aircraft at Domodedovo airport, after the aircraft was unable to land at Chkalovsky airport, where an inspection by the FSVT revealed the breach of regulations. The VASO aircraft was classified as a test aircraft. These often avoid FSVT inspection for secrecy reasons, due to their test status, and the fact that they land at test facilities, despite often being used for commercial cargo carrying. The military has also come under considerable criticism for its commercial operation of military cargo aircraft, with accusations being made by commercial operators that the military has a significantly higher accident rate, due to inexperienced crews and overloading. This case was supported recently by the crash of an Il-76 operated by Elf Air, a carrier operating out of Zhukovsky test flight centre in Moscow, and owned by the Gromsk Flight Institute, which according to the FSVT, crashed due to overload. Elf has now had its licence suspended by the FSVT as a result, which followed a similar incident involving Elf Air in Irkutsk in July 1999 (www.concise.org 26th July1999), while using an Estonian registered Il-76.

Article ID: 972